To the Editor:

Not only has Island Grown Initiative (IGI) gone into direct competition with local farms, taking away Island market share from them, but it is acting as the last word on Island farming to the outside world. I have argued repeatedly that IGI’s Thimble Farm should drop its policy of selling its products on-Island only, and sell its products off-Island as well, for the simple reason that dumping that much product on the local market will take away market share from on-Island farms that need that market in order to grow to a level of sustainability.

The idea that has been put out is that Island farms only represent three to four percent of the on-Island market, and therefore Thimble Farm does not compete with local farms. It is a specious argument, as consumers are brand loyal, especially when looking for USDA-certified organic products. When the summer vacationers show up here, they want to participate in the local economy, and will be more likely to experiment with locally produced food, but have limited time and resources as they are here to rest. So displacing a serious portion of the 96 percent of the Island food supply that comes from off-Island is a decades-long process at the present pace, as off-Island suppliers will not give up their market share without a fight, and that could mean a price war.

Wealthy vacationers may not question the high prices of locally produced products, but the bulk of vacationers to Martha’s Vineyard are from America’s middle class, are very price-conscious, and come here on a budget. As Martha’s Vineyard is in one of the poorest counties in Massachusetts (Dukes), the local population is also very price-conscious, and will only buy local if locally produced food has competitive pricing.

This is what Namiko and I did. We priced our pea shoots and microgreens competitively, and were embraced by the local population, but we knew that in order for our pricing to work, we would have to sell regionally as most family farms in America do. This is why we sought shelf space with Stop and Shop, the region’s largest grocer, as volume sales regionally would bring us to not just sustainability, but to a point where we would finally be able to make a living after the crash in 2008.

Ken Debettencourt stated at a meeting at Thimble Farm that they needed a cash crop, and both Keith Wilda, farm manager, and I agreed with the principle of his statement, but the IGI Thimble Farm policy of selling only on-Island has not changed. Keith has told me that growing basil for the off-Island market would be very profitable for the farm.

If IGI is to be a real benefit to local family farms and Island residents, it must remove its products from the local markets and sell them off-Island, and then take the profits from those sales to benefit local farmers by building a professional wash and pack system that can print each farm’s labels on packaging that is bought by the truck load, getting the best possible price. This is how family farms all across America keep their labor and material costs down, allowing them to be price-competitive. Given the competitive choice, markets would rather buy locally. But for some reason, I have not been able to figure out why, IGI and Thimble Farm have done quite the opposite, and gone further, creating CSA (community-supported agriculture), where consumers buy a share and collect farm products directly from the farm, further eroding local family farms’ market share.

At a time when Southwest food production is collapsing due to drought and we are now importing produce from countries further and further away, we should be helping local farmers to fill the gap. I have called on IGI to be converted into a traditional farmers cooperative so that a professional wash and pack, cold storage, cannery, and distribution system can be set up and local family farms can have their operating costs radically reduced.

I hope now that IGI has found itself in a ridiculous confrontation with its neighbors, who haven’t a moral or legal leg to stand on, it will embrace what all family farms across America know to be true, that if we farmers do not cooperate, we will wither on the vine, as my and Namiko’s farm has done.

Lloyd and Namiko Hart

Martha’s Vineyard Organics

Oak Bluffs